The invention generally relates to the manufacturing of catalytic converters for automotive use.
It is common in automotive applications to require a catalytic converter in the exhaust system of automobiles, typically placed between the engine exhaust manifold and the muffler system of the automobile. As disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,482,686, the catalytic converter normally includes a monolith substrate, a mat material surrounding the monolith substrate, the monolith and mat material then being encapsulated in a metal enclosure which can be a cylindrical tube, a bipartite metal enclosure, or other round or non-round-type metal housing. It is also common to seal opposite ends of the mat material against the internal surface of the metal housing.
One of the requirements of the design is to have the mat material compressed between the outer metallic housing and the monolith substrate. Normal specifications of the catalytic converter require that a minimum pressure exists between the mat material and the monolith substrate, which retain the monolith substrate in place in the outer tube. At the same time, the specifications set a peak pressure on the monolith substrate during manufacture. The purpose of having a peak pressure is that a large force on the monolith substrate tends to fracture the substrate along a transverse face thereof. One of the difficulties in working with such substrates is that several different geometries exist, and different geometries have different fracture characteristics. Moreover, the monolith substrates have a tolerance in their diameter of +3 mm to −1 mm. Thus the deformation alone cannot be measured. Furthermore, it has not heretofore been possible to monitor the manufacturing process in light of such fracture characteristics to enable proper manufacturing of the catalytic converters with the proper load between the mat material and the monolith, without causing fracture of some of the monoliths.
The object of the present invention then is to alleviate the shortcomings present in the market.